Randal Worcester departs from the Crawford County Justice Center in Van Buren, Ark. on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.
Andrew DeMillo/AP
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Andrew DeMillo/AP
Randal Worcester departs from the Crawford County Justice Center in Van Buren, Ark. on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.
Andrew DeMillo/AP
MULBERRY, Ark. — Federal authorities said Monday they have started a civil rights investigation following the suspension of three Arkansas law enforcement officers after a video posted on social media showed two of them beating a man while a third officer held him on the ground.
The officers were responding to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store Sunday in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma, authorities said.
Arkansas State Police said the agency would investigate the use of force. State police identified the suspect as Randal Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina.
However, the attorney for the two deputies says Worcester attacked one of the deputies, giving him a concussion.
The video shows one officer punching the suspect with a clenched fist, while another can be seen hitting the man with his knee. The third officer holds him against the pavement.
In video recorded from a car nearby, someone yells at officers to stop hitting the man in the head. Two of the officers appear to…